When you take care of the people in your business first, the production will flourish, says Hyatt Frobose, commercial director – North America for Jyga Technologies – GESTAL.
“The really successful pork producers in this country know that the secret is to take care of their people first and the pork production business will flourish,” Frobose says. “They know that every employee needs to be able to come to work every day with a purpose they believe in and those companies do a great job of connecting that desire for purpose with the noble role of producing food for their families, friends, and this country.”
As an allied industry partner, Frobose has the opportunity to see many different farm cultures. He says communication and transparency from the slat level to upper management sets apart the top operations. Staffs that can relate with each other and successfully implement accountability up and down the management chain seem to maintain more cohesion and stick together to achieve operational goals.
Engaged Employees Stay
It’s not a coincidence that the most successful and the most profitable pork producers have the highest retention rates, says Mark Hulsebus, general manager of U.S. pork at Alltech.
“The operations that fall in this category have incredible cultures that focus on people first to drive employee engagement,” Hulsebus says. “It’s well documented across multiple industries in many different countries around the world that highly engaged employees both stay with an organization longer and drive substantially higher profits.”
What leads to highly engaged employees? Todd Thurman, swine management consultant and CEO of Swine Insights International, LLC, says three things stand out.
1. They have fair and transparent compensation programs.
”They don’t always pay the most, but they clearly communicate with employees why they’re being paid what they’re being paid and what they can do to increase their income,” Thurman says.
2. Their systems and processes are well organized.
“Disorganized farms without a well-established routine burn people out very quickly,” he adds. “There will always be unexpected events on a farm that must be dealt with, but when those events occur too often, it creates a terrible working environment. Only employees with limited opportunities will tolerate such chaos.”
3. Expectations are clear and standards are high.
“Employees who perform well are rewarded not just financially, but with flexibility and the ability to act with a high degree of freedom within their area of expertise,” Thurman says.
Managers Set the Tone
Wesley Lyons, DVM and director of technical services for Pharmacosmos, says this culture begins at the highest level of daily management. In most cases, that is your farm manager who is there every day to oversee the herd and the employees.
“I’ve had the privilege of walking barns across dozens of states in the U.S. and multiple countries throughout the world,” Lyons says. “At the end of the day, the manager sets the tone for the employees. Farms that have good managers that know how to manage their people and their workflow stand out as the most successful because employees enjoy coming to work. It’s an old adage, but people truly don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers.”
